About Brookline
Not every Pittsburgh neighborhood has the up-and-coming pizazz of Pittsburgh’s East End. But there are still sights to be seen south of the Monongahela. The neighborhood of Brookline in South Pittsburgh is a not-so-little community—home to about 13,000 Pittsburghers—and a less-traveled path for folks from other corners of the city. The most recognizable attraction is commercial district, Brookline Boulevard, a half-mile stretch home to dozens of local businesses and community amenities from banks and post-offices to groceries and lunch spots. After renovations to make the strip more walkable, foot traffic has bolstered many of the Boulevard’s small businesses. Brookline also hosts Joseph F. Moore Park, built in 1940 and a popular spot today for young families and sports enthusiasts.
In 1908, Pittsburgh annexed Brookline, then part of West Liberty Borough. The introduction of a single-line trolley service in 1904 gave the small, farming community access to the city, cutting down on the long wagon-rides over Mt. Washington. Thanks to the new streetcar, Brookline went urban; developers paved the streets and built formal residences. In 1924, the opening of the Liberty Tunnels directly connected the South Hills to downtown Pittsburgh, the Beechview-Brookline border being that access-point.
Those interested in paying a visit, Brookline is a less-than-fifteen-minute drive from downtown—thanks again to the Liberty Tunnels.
Building Brookline: 100+ Years of Construction
"The archive, as an institution, is surely a site of memory. But as a tool, it is an instrument for the refinement of desire. Seen from the collective point of view, and keeping the sociality of memory and the imagination in mind, such desire has everything to do with the capacity to aspire."
—Arjun Appadurai in "Archive and Aspiration"